I’m not a big boxing fan, let alone a fan of women boxing.  I’m troubled, even repulsed, by the idea of people training their bodies to near-perfection (in terms not only of strength, but endurance, agility, and so forth) and then going into a ring where the unavoidable consequence (if not the actual goal) is damage to those bodies.  (I also dislike tattoos for analogous reasons — reasons that long predate the Church’s counsel against getting them.)   That... Read more

    This is an admirable undertaking:   https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2017/04/23/faith-and-science-come-together-at-conference-for-society-of-catholic-scientists/#58b89bcc4d8c   I was pleased, too, to see our friend Brother Guy Consolmagno among the participants, as well as such familiar authors as Kenneth Miller and Stephen M. Barr.     Read more

    Robert Boylan’s blog alerts me to a treasure:     Blake Ostler is one of the most interesting thinkers in Mormondom, and a prolific author.  Now, his son has begun a series of podcasts exploring the thought of Blake Ostler about Mormon thought.  Thus far, they range in length between about 45 minutes and slightly more than an hour.     Read more

    A brief but very interesting report from Jana Riess:   Mormon women and depression, revisited   Depression is a serious and little-understood issue.  It’s been somewhat irritating to me, therefore, to have seen it used (not infrequently) over the years as club with which to beat the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Not only because such weaponization of an often tragic affliction is unjust, and not only because I’m protective of my church and my faith,... Read more

  “In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians.” Karl Barth (d. 1968), Swiss Protestant theologian Read more

    Elaine Howard Ecklund, of Rice University in Texas, has been studying scientists’ attitudes toward religion and religious attitudes toward science for many years now.  Her findings are always interesting:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/april-web-only/march-for-science-isnt-anti-religion-just-like-most-scienti.html     Read more

      1860 was the year in which the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, won the White House.  However great we may now think he was, though, he didn’t have universal support among the voters.  Nor, for that matter, among editorial cartoonists.  Take a look, for instance, at the 1860 political cartoon shown above.   The captions, from left to right:   “Hold on to me, Abe, and we’ll go in here by unanimous consent of the people.”  ... Read more

    Truman Madsen (1926-2009) had an enormous impact on me when I was in my late teens, at a pivotal moment of my life.  Much of what I’ve done since then, including my decision to come to BYU as an undergraduate, has been affected by that impact.   It was hearing him speak — in his inimitable style — that first caught my attention.  But a very substantial part of the impact that he had on me also came through... Read more

    A nice summary:   https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2017/04/more-book-of-mormon-wordplays-new.html     Read more

    This article suggests that the odds are somewhat higher than previously thought:   “Ripple effects of New Zealand earthquake continue to this day”     Read more